LAB REPORT
PROFESSOR
BY
????????
MARCH 30, 2009
Experiment 1: Starch in plant leaves and the requirements of light for photosynthesis.
Experiment 2: Separation of plant pigments.
Experiment 3: Photosynthesis and cell respiration in aquatic plants.
Experiment 4: C02 uptake by plants.
Experiment #1
Starch in plant leaves and the requirement of light for photosynthesis
Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to allow a person to detect where in the plant starch is stored and what happens to the starch when the plant is deprived of light and how photosynthesis work. Photosynthesis is when plants convert CO2 into sugar which can be used up by cell respiration for energy for the cells or turned to starch (a chain or polymer of sugars) and stored in the plant.
Materials:
Geranium plant leaves half covered in aluminum
Hot plate with Alcohol filled pot
Dish with distilled water, and Petri dish
Iodine
Method:
While boiling the alcohol in the hot plate, get the geranium leaves that have been half covered for 48 hours by a piece of aluminum foil. When the alcohol begins to boil, submerge the leaf for about 10 minutes until it is bleached white (the alcohol removes the chlorophyll). Place the leaf into the dish of distilled water for approx. 2 minutes. Remove the leaf and place it in the Petri dish and add a few drops of iodine solution.
Results:
The Geranium leaf part that was not covered turned dark while the part that was covered remained clear.
Conclusion:
The dark side of the leaf, the side not covered suggests that there is starch present and that light is needed for photosynthesis. The leaves were covered to show which side were still undergoing photosynthesis and showed a reaction to iodine to bring out the starch.
Experiment #2
Separation of plant pigments
Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is use chromatography to separate the pigments that are responsible for trapping the light energy used for...